The usual reaction of “Wow, how completely unsurprising in the worst way” has greeted the rather self-important E3 Game Critics’ Awards which were revealed this morning, with the panel of mutual back-slappers managing to follow company line and PR direction whilst generally underselling the games industry.
In fairness, E3 this year was all about hardware, as the final generation of Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft gradually fades away, no doubt readying for phase three budget releases of Noddy’s Count-Em-Up 123. It must be said however that this year’s awards offer little in the way of discussion points, other than to reaffirm the laziness of modern Kentia-phobic games watchers.
The full list reads:
Best of Show:
Spore
(Maxis/Electronic Arts for PC)
Best Original Game:
Spore
(Maxis/Electronic Arts for PC)
Best Hardware/Peripheral:
PlayStation 3
(Sony Computer Entertainment / Nvidia / IBM / Toshiba)
Best Console Game:
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
(Nintendo for GameCube)
Best PC Game:
Spore
(Maxis/Electronic Arts for PC)
Best Handheld Game:
Nintendogs
Best Action Game:
F.E.A.R.
(Monolith/Vivendi-Universal Games for PC)
Best Action/Adventure Game:
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
(Nintendo for GameCube)
Best Fighting Game:
Soul Calibur III
(Namco for PlayStation 2)
Best Role Playing Game:
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
(Bethesda Software for PC / Xbox 360)
Best Racing Game:
Burnout Revenge
(Criterion Games/Electronic Arts for PlayStation 2, Xbox)
Best Simulation Game:
Spore
(Maxis/Electronic Arts for PC)
Best Sports Game:
Madden NFL 06
(EA Tiburon/EA Sports for All Platforms)
Best Strategy Game:
Company of Heroes
(Relic/THQ for PC)
Best Puzzle/Trivia/Parlor Game:
We Love Katamari
(Namco for PlayStation 2)
Best Online Multiplayer:
Battlefield 2
(Digital Illusions/Electronic Arts for PC)
Special Commendation for Graphics:
(NON-PLAYABLE GAMES ELIGIBLE IN THIS CATEGORY)
Killzone
(Guerilla Games/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe for PS3)
So there we have it. Killzone, Madden, Spore, Burnout, Nintendogs… Some awards are justified, of this there is no doubt, but many,
not least those at Sony and Nintendo, would question the validity of calling Killzone a game. Furthermore, it seems somewhat astonishing to give precedence to PlayStation 3, an unplayable console with no confirmed real-time software viewings, over Microsoft’s Xbox 360 campaign.
Many said that this year’s E3 would be the best ever, with three new hardware platforms being announced. SPOnG asserts that next year’s E3 will trump the offerings of 2005 with ease. As you know, there’ll be some games around to play.
Let us know your thoughts in the forum below.